City officials spar over Coyotes deal

Extent of cuts an issue as vote looms

A reworked deal that could keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale will go to a City Council vote on Tuesday, but the fate of the agreement is unclear.

At a workshop Tuesday evening, City Council members had a heated debate about the proposed $320 million arena-management agreement with Coyotes suitor Greg Jamison. Ultimately, they decided to vote on the pact next week.

However, the interim city manager who helped renegotiate the pact said he would not recommend that city leaders approve it. Also, one council member did not say how she would vote on the deal.

If the council rejects the deal, the fate of the arena and the Coyotes may be decided by a new lineup of City Council members who take office Jan. 15. Based on statements made during the campaign, a majority of the new council would likely oppose the Jamison deal.

On Tuesday night, Jamison said he is still prepared to buy the team.

"We fully intended to buy the team, but we are waiting for the vote and then we will move as quickly as we possibly can," Jamison said.

City Council approval of this agreement is a critical step toward bringing the Coyotes' three-year ownership woes to a close and keeping the team in Arizona.

While the Jamison deal may be in the long-term interest of the city, it would force Glendale to make steep cuts within five years, said interim City Manager Horatio Skeete.

It's a "job well done, but we can't afford it," Skeete said of the city quest to keep the team.

Glendale would have to cut $20 million from the general fund if the deal is approved and must trim $12 million without it. Making $20 million in cuts could mean cutting about 200 positions in the next five years, Skeete said.

The fund pays for core city services, including public safety, parks and street repairs.

In 20 years, the city would have a negative general-fund balance of $144 million with the team vs. $238.5 million without the team.

With or without the Coyotes, projections are showing the city in a hole, Skeete said.

The newest version of the agreement helps Glendale because it lowers payments in the early years of the 20-year deal, saving the city $4 million.

Now, some penalties and incentives have been added to encourage Jamison to book more non-hockey events. Also, the new deal gives Glendale opportunities to get some advertising revenue and naming rights.

In June, the council approved a $324 million pact, a key step in a plan to keep the hockey team as the anchor tenant of city-owned Jobing.com Arena. Facing financial strain, Glendale leaders asked the city manager in August to renegotiate the deal.

Glendale spent $180 million to open the arena in 2003 as a concert and hockey venue.

The Tuesday decision to vote next week came after a 31/2-hour discussion at City Hall.

In the past, a City Council majority has supported the deal. That includes Vice Mayor Steve Frate and council members Joyce Clark, Yvonne Knaack and Manny Martinez. They have argued that it's in Glendale's long-term interest to have the hockey team as the anchor tenant in the city-funded arena.

Knaack on Tuesday did not indicate how she would vote.

Losing the team would mean the loss of revenue that could not be replaced by other events at the arena, supporters of the deal say.

The city needs that money to boost the local economy and pay off the remainder of the $180 million construction debt, supporters say.

The Coyotes should not be blamed for all of the city's financial woes, they said. Glendale leaders should have trimmed the budget more during the recession, and the city's spring-training ballpark has failed to bring in revenue, supporters say.

"There is no one in this room who is not looking out for the long-term interest of the city," Clark said. "Where we differ is in our approach."

Opponents, including Mayor Elaine Scruggs and Councilwoman Norma Alvarez, say the city shouldn't pay millions to the team's buyer when the city is cutting city services.

Several new council members who oppose the current Coyotes deal, including Mayor-elect Jerry Weiers, have said they would like to get a chance to shape the proposal.

Scruggs, who supported Coyotes deals in the past, has become an opponent. Glendale would have to cut too many services, she said Tuesday.

"We are really going to destroy what Glendale is," she said.

The Coyotes ownership issue came into the spotlight in 2009, when then-owner Jerry Moyes filed the franchise into bankruptcy. The National Hockey League has owned the team since then. Glendale has pledged $50 million in the past two years to operate the team and arena.